JOIN USWill fight tooth and nail for hijab, says Mehbooba Mufti
Stating that she will fight tooth and nail in support of hijab (headscarves) in educational institutions across the country, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday alleged that the BJP was “hell-bent to divide this country”.
“BJP wants to polarise the situation to get benefits in elections and it (hijab ban) looks like a conspiracy to keep the Muslim girl child away from education,” she said while addressing a press conference here.
“I fear BJP won't stop at hijab and they will come for other symbols of Muslims. For Indian Muslims it is not enough to be an Indian, they have to be BJP as well,” firebrand PDP chief alleged.
On Srinagar girl Aroosa Parvaiz, who topped class 12 board exams recently, and has become a victim of online trolls from not covering her head, Mehbooba said, “Hijab does not define anyone's religious identity and shouldn't be worn just for the sake of it.”
The hijab controversy started towards December end last year when a few Muslim students were denied entry to a government pre-university (PU) college in Udupi in Karnataka. As a counter, some Hindu students turned up wearing saffron scarves.
On the prevailing situation in Kashmir, the PDP chief claimed that revocation of Article 370 further complicated the issue. “The BJP led government at the Centre has no alternative other than to talk to Pakistan for resolution of issues including Kashmir,” she said.
“An impression that the Kashmir issue was over after revocation of article 370 has proved totally wrong on ground. One of the serious repercussions seen at the international level is that India is being isolated internally,” she claimed.
About the Delimitation Commission's second draft report, she alleged that the Commission has appeased the BJP only by advocating something that is totally unacceptable to all. “The report aims to pitch one community against another in J&K, something BJP likes,” she added.
Asked J&K government figures that the investors were coming to the region, the former CM said, “When people of J&K are feeling caged in a fortress and there is a total monitoring of all in one, how can investment help. They are even monitoring our thoughts."
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